almost finished

"New Development", 24x24", oil

At least I think it's almost done, I just need to tweak a few things, simplify here and there...

A 3-hour study

This study is from last Saturday's "Art In The Making", which is an annual event in Coeur D'Alene. 12-15 artists get together and paint, draw and sculpt from live models in the Coeur D'Alene plaza. People come, watch and ask questions... The night before, I had a solo show opening at The Art Spirit Gallery. Instead of giving a demo at the gallery on Saturday after the opening, I opted for Art In The Making. Less scary when you have a dozen great artists around doing the same thing :) For someone like me, who is so used to the solitude of the studio, it's still rather intimidating. Also, I'm not an alla prima painter, and this is certainly out of my comfort zone... But we had a great model, and I'm quite pleased with the result. I'll let it dry and then probably go over and finish it sometime. 

On the easel

This is one of the paintings I'm working on for the September show, it's 30x40". Why, oh why am I not painting a small cabin in the woods with one crooked window?


I love seeing other artists work in progress, but I'm always very uncomfortable about showing my unfinished stuff.
Right now it's in its ugly state - sadly, all my painting go through this. The beginning is very exciting, all the possibilities are there, I can see in my mind what it's going to look like...  Then comes this "ugly stage", when the freshness of the start is gone, but things are not quite there yet. Very frustrating, but somehow I need those wrong colors and wrong layers to get me where I want to be with a painting - eventually.

Work in progress

30x40"

Monroe Street Bridge - underpainting.

I'm actually a bit farther along with this one.  Normally I don't have patience for such a detailed underpainting, I just block in the main shapes and continue with color. This time I wanted to figure out the architectural elements and perspective first, hoping to avoid some frustrations and reworkings (is that a word?) later.

"Passenger"

16x16", oil on canvas
(sold)

Once in a while I get a painting so stubborn, that it makes me wonder if I have learned anything at all.
After more than three months, I think, this one is almost finished. I'll probably tweak it some more in the next few days, but it's 99% done.

Work in progress

This is a detail of a larger painting I've been working on for quite a while (and today). It's about 48 by 20 inches. I'm trying to finish this one by the end of April.

Work in progress - "White Roses"

18"x24", oil on canvas.

This is not exactly a small study, I've been working on this one every day for a week and a half (I'm surprised the roses lasted this long!). I'm getting close to being done.

It feels like the painting needs some strong horizontal element, maybe the edge of the table where it meets the wall needs more definition. On the other hand, I'm curious if I can pull it off without such an obvious solution. Now I have to wait for the paint to dry before I continue, so there is time to think about it...

With that, I'm done for the day. I have a show opening tonight at The Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d'Alene - "New Work by 12 Artists".